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Only Expansion

Only Expansion

classified 
Audio walk

Fri 23 May - Sun 22 June

Undershed, Watershed

“Winner of the Best Immersive/XR experience at London Film Festival and Best Immersive Non-Fiction at IDFA Doclab”

Only Expansion is an invitation to explore the city and imagine the future. While wearing headphones with customised electronics that capture and manipulate the live sounds around you and following an enigmatic guidebook with simple prompts—this is an experience of our tangled ecology through sound.

As voices of passersby become a choir and bus brakes create pulsating rhythms, noises from elsewhere blend in—with desert winds from Tunisia or the coasts of Norfolk layering on top of your surroundings. You hear what your own city would sound like if it were underwater or a desert landscape.

Only Expansion is a visceral and poetic reflection on what it means to live on a planet in crisis.

This experience is suitable for all ages, but parental guidance is advised.

"...a project that not only makes you aware of the world around you, but also triggers the emotional chords within.” 

- IDFA Jury

What to expect

Only Expansion is designed for solo audience members walking through urban environments. When you come to Undershed, you pick up a guidebook and custom mobile audio kit – before heading out into the streets of the city. 

The audio kit is a Perspex lasercut box with headphones attached. The headphones have binaural microphones mounted on the outside.  

The work is site-responsive and not tied to any specific location or sites. The guidebook contains prompts that lead you to seek out things such as ‘a quiet place’ or ‘something older than you’, so the work can be staged anywhere.  There is no set route or speed of movement.

A selection of materials used for the Only Expansion exhibition including a sound device, notebook, and headphones.
Inside a notebook is some text on a grey page to help guide you through the audio walk.
A young person wearing a grey beanie and black headphones is looking through a notebook.

"On a normal grey morning, it transformed the world around us and made it truly cinematic.” 

- Felix Barret, Punchdrunk

Duncan Speakman is a white man wearing a black beanie and black sunglasses, he is turned to the side.
Duncan Speakman

About the Artist

Duncan Speakman is an artist based at the Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol. He is best known for creating sonic experiences that engage audiences in uncontrolled public and private space, including installations on trains in Guangzhou, loudspeaker symphonies in New Zealand, audio walks in Saitama, and sound installations in Porto; he has also recently developed a number of hybrid print/digital experiments. From 2010 - 2015 he was co-director of the artists collective circumstance with Sarah Anderson, Emilie Grenier and Tom Abba. His current research is focused on the potential of sound in futures research.

FAQs

As this is a flexible outdoor walk, you choose your own route and pace, making it suitable for a range of access needs.

  • Mobility: No set route or time limit. It’s as accessible as the city streets you choose to explore.

  • Hearing: A sound-based piece, it has been experienced by people with and without hearing aids.

  • Vision: Headphones reduce awareness of your surroundings—if you rely on sound to navigate, we recommend going with someone.

  • Sensory needs: It’s immersive but gives you control over how and where you experience it.

  • Immune compromised: It takes place entirely outdoors, with no required enclosed spaces.

We’ll provide the audio equipment. Just wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather.

That depends on your chosen route and pace. Most people spend between 45 minutes to 1 hour on the walk.

If it is torrential rain we may ask you to carry the device under your raincoat, but it can be experienced in any conditions as long as you are up for it!

Yes, although the content is more reflective and may resonate more with older children or teenagers.

Absolutely! Each walk can feel different depending on where you go and what’s happening in the city around you.

£9.00 full / £7.50 concessions / £6.00 24 or under, Refugee/Asylum Seekers (plus 12% booking fee*)

We recommend you book tickets for in advance online, in person at Box Office or by phone on 0117 927 5100. 

Visiting Undershed for the first time

Undershed Gallery is located on the ground floor of Watershed - the entrance is to the right of the Box Office desk. If you haven't visited Watershed before, check out our Visit page for access, location and transport information.

Your ticket gives you access to the timed session you have booked for. It will show you the start and end time of your session. You are welcome to arrive at any point within this period but we recommend you arrive at least half an hour before the end to give you time for the whole experience (the piece runs as a 25-minute continuous loop).

There is a maximum capacity of 16 in the Gallery at any one time, if the Gallery is full you may be asked to wait a little in the welcome area until there is space. A Gallery Assistant will let you know when you can enter.

You can come and go as many times as you like, for as long as you like, during your booked session (space permitting).

Four people take part in an immersive experience, they are wearing headphones and painting with watercolours.

Credit: Paul Blakemore

What is Undershed?

Undershed is a new gallery for showing the best immersive and interactive artwork from all over the world. The first of its kind in Bristol and rare across the UK – this dedicated space will stage themed exhibitions that change every few months.

Undershed is a place to come together and experiment with new forms of storytelling. Come on in, keep an open mind and tell us what you think.

Book now

Or call Box Office: 0117 927 5100

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